Watch out – here ships sail by themselves

Norway now has a new sea area for testing autonomous ships. The area is located in Horten in the Oslofjord and was launched on December 6th as the third of its kind in Norway and the fourth in the world. The technological maritime company Kongsberg is one of the initiators of the area.

"With the intense development of maritime autonomous technology and software that takes place at Kongsberg in Horten, the location of the new test field will result in the development of a number of groundbreaking technology projects," said Egil Haugsdal, CEO of Kongsberg Maritime.

Norway was the first country in the world to dedicate an area for the purpose of testing autonomous ships, and now they are have three of the kind. The fourth area of the kind is located in Finland and was launched in August this year.

The initiative for the establishment of the new area was taken by Kongsberg, the city council in Horten, the classification society DNV GL, the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment in Norway and the University College in Southeast Norway.